SAVE the Monsters, BREAK the Barrier: UnderReal
by SA-ramblings
Summary: What if Undertale was both a game and a reality, but the game was supplied by the monsters as a means of how to save them? A way of mapping out exactly what the fallen human should do, all in an easy-to-follow format? They just need a human who can help them, even a child would do! UT AU, read A/N for warnings/worldbuilding. Cover by me! ! ETERNAL HAITUS, UP FOR ADOPTION !
1. Chapter 1

((A/N: Howdy! This is another one of my UT fics that I've posted here on FF, and trust me when I say the others will update soon! But first, I have some things to mention:

* UNDERTALE SPOILERS. PLEASE PLAY THE GAME IF YOU PLAN TO.

* Follows Pacifist route.

* Possible mentions of abuse and bad relationships. Violence is also expected.

* This will go through the events prior to falling into the Underground, then possible timeskip to directly after the Barrier is broken.

* The protagonist is a nonbinary young (20) adult, often mistaken as female.

* It is heavily supported that UT takes place in a single day (courtesy of nochocolate on Tumblr). This is DEFINITELY not following that theory, much apologies.

* This fic-AU is not completely original, and is a twist on EeveeChick10's fic-AU. Read theirs if you like, but it also contains heavy spoilers for Undertale. I have lovingly dubbed this AU UnderReal, thanks to "rucksfavnucka" and "someargentiniancreep" on tumblr! Thanks guys.

* Here is my final warning to play Undertale now if you plan to in the future. You won't regret it.

Now that THAT'S out of the way, let's get on with the show, DARLINGS!))

* * *

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It was just another day in the life of a college student. Classes were over, Summer Break was in full effect... On days like these, people like Frisk...

Were going to play video games.

They were the type of person to love fictional characters more than actual people, and they tended to keep to themselves at parties and fantasize about being at home.

Of course, that went for everyone that didn't have their boundaries respected: it took 18 years to get out of their parents' connections, but even in college there was no escape from the criticism and ridicule. It's been decades since a law was passed that introduced a new genderless honorific, and it seemed no one but Frisk's online friends cared about it.

The student wasn't even a fan of the honorifics -Mx.; it sounded like a disgusting placeholder- but it was the thought that counted, they supposed.

Even if absolutely no one used it around them.

Whatever. They weren't going to hear anything about it for a while.

The only reason why Frisk would leave their empty dorm room (their roommate ditched college early with his girlfriend on a cruise, as scribbled out on a used napkin that he left behind) is to shop for some more food and occasionally wash their dirty clothes in the laundry room downstairs.

Plenty of time to waste the days away on video games.

Frisk took no time in grabbing a family-size bag of Popato Chisps and a chilled can of soda, diving straight for their plush office chair and kicked up their legs in full-reclining mode, the chair swiveling back a few inches from the action. They practically punched the power button on their junky old PC tower. An obnoxious beep and seconds of the whirring of small fans in the computer engine later, and the computer screen finally showed signs of life.

After clicking through several of the icons on the grassy desktop screen, they finally got to RPGamingList, a forum-based gaming community that also was a main provider of the numerous indie games Frisk collected and -shamelessly- bought; one of those games being Undertale, an RPG that the college student had come to love over the few months it had been released. They often found themselves doodling the characters in their class notes, imagining them in scenarios, even becoming a hobbyist writer of a few ship fanfictions they posted online- with positive reviews, thankfully.

They flinched a bit as the good old UNDERTALE title screen popped up with its surprisingly-deafening SFX (Frisk immediately turned down their volume, how did it get that high up?), and they clicked "Continue" to pick up where they left off. Hotland, Left Floor 1. They were going Pacifist this run.

When they first played the game, they were surprised that the protagonist shared their namesake: Frisk. It was interesting, but the adult realized that it was probably so there was no dispute on the pronunciation of the character's name.

Made sense.

Frisk pressed the keys on their keyboard to move the character -and occasionally, their SOUL-, all the way up to the Core. Mettaton did his thing, Alphys admitted to her manupliation; it was all re-seen dialogue, nothing special. And yet, Frisk found themselves moved to tears as Alphys dashed away:

"A human SOUL isn't strong enough to cross the Barrier alone. It takes at least a human SOUL... and a monster SOUL. In order to leave, you'll have to take his SOUL.

You'll have to KILL ASGORE.

...I'm sorry."

It always pained Frisk to hurt the monsters in UNDERTALE; even in the Kill-All run they managed to complete just prior to this Pacifist run, they reset their game right after defeating Sans (grand death total of 35, better than expected). Their game SOUL was not taken by Chara, as Frisk read that happened in one of the game's forums. Luckily it didn't happen, as apparently Chara controlled the protagonist's SOUL across timelines.

Frisk boredly took a sip of their soda and finished off their bag of Chisps. When they checked their pink heart-shaped clock next to the computer screen, pale green numerals read 9:42pm.

Time for a break.

They wondered what they would do during the hour of break time they scheduled; eating wasn't the best option, since they'd do that the moment their break is over, doing the laundry was a good idea, but it sounded busy (why is that lady yelling down there?)...

How about a walk?

A walk sounded nice. There weren't that many people out on the streets at this hour, might as well see the sights while they could.

They grabbed one of the many pull string bags from their closet and went to the kitchen to stuff a water bottle and some granola bars into it, then wandering back to their desk to snatch up their phone, checking it one more time before stuffing that in the bag as well.

After changing into more "socially-accepted" clothing (and wearing the nice heart locket that they mysteriously found hanging on the coat rack on their way out) they headed out the door on their regular route to Mt. Ebott.

.

.

.

It was always interesting to know that Mt. Ebott existed in Frisk's immediate area and not just in their favorite RPG, as well as finding all the nooks and crannies of the game itself- it was pretty quirky, to say the least.

It was almost a satire of real games, while still being a game itself.

Frisk always found that kind of humor funny.

Although it was always a little curious how in the Pacifist ending, before the FINAL "The End" words fully scroll up the screen, a message saying, "Free us from our torment, fulfill the prophecy..." flashes for a few frames on the screen between television-like static before disappearing and letting "The End" take its place.

Maybe it was just a final jab at the ability to reset the game. But in the back of their mind, Frisk was curious if that really WAS just another part of the game...

.

.

.

They decided to wander off their usual path around the base of Mt. Ebott, opting to climb up a bit more at the opportunity of a great view of the night sky.

And so they went.

While charging through the underbrush and wayward tree branches, Frisk longingly wished they brought some sort of knife to cut through all the flora.

.

.

.

Eventually, they reached the large, gaping hole in the mountainside that was supposedly created in a meteor shower thousands of years ago. If there wasn't any scientific evidence that supported that theory, Frisk would have chosen Undertale's storyline to explain it instead: that monsters were trapped down in the mountain's pit by powerful human magicians after the War.

Unfortunately, if there was any sort of magic still in existence back then, it's not around anymore.

It, heh, magically disappeared.

Frisk would have loved to study up on the science of magic rather than how computers worked, but they supposed it was for the best. Magic, while very practical, could have been a much bigger threat than technology had become, given the time.

They wiped beads of sweat from their forehead after they got to a flat part of the mountainside, digging through their pull string bag and gathering up their water bottle and snacks. They hadn't gone this far up before, and lines of shiny yellow police tape hung up a little ways upwards from where they were. They gazed down into the mouth of the abyss below them with curiosity, but knowing better than to blindly jump into it and expect to survive.

Checking their phone, it was past 10:00pm, with no connection signal. They should probably go back after they finished their resting for another round of Undertale.

Standing up quickly, they turned to wipe the dust from their pants, but their left heel stepped on something that curled around their leg and-

.

.

.

They barely even had time to register they were falling before they fell off the face of the Earth, down into the abyss below.


	2. Chapter 2

((A/N: Sorry for the hiatus on everything! My writing program decided to delete everything from the past month when I updated so I had to redo everything and finals were a bitch

but school's out! I'm free! sorta. I have volunteering multiple times a week lmao-

This fic isn't nearly as popular as my crossovers, but I figure y'all can wait a tad longer for me to fix everything back together ;P So...

Get some atmosphere! Grab an acoustic RUINS cover (and a "Home" one for the 2nd half) and have a ball with this short-ish chapter!))

* * *

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"Oh! Greetings, my child! Are you hurt?"

They don't remember what happened after they fell.

Flowers?

Darkness?

It was all a blur.

They stopped thinking about it, feeling a dull pain growing from their forehead.

Lying on their back in the somehow-intact flowerbed, Frisk lifted their hand to wave away the furry(?) clawed hand poking them curiously. Opening their eyes a bit wider for a better look at their surroundings, they sat up and suddenly found themselves face-to-face with-

"Hello, I am Toriel: caretaker of the RUINS. I come to this place every day to water the flowers you are... ah..."

The human instantly looked at their feet.

Whoops.

Scrambling to get off the patch of flowers, they wondered how... and why...

"It was very surprising to see you here, my child. After all, you are the only human to fall down other than-"

They took this chance to speak up for a moment. They already knew what she was implying, but it was another feeling to hear it straight from the horse's mouth.

"...Other than?"

Toriel stopped. Was it already not going well? She then turned to them with a smile, but there was a moment of hesitation in her voice.

Best to be careful. They could already tell it would not be exactly the same as the game.

"...Well, how about we visit my home? It is rather messy, however, but I hope you do not mind! Hee hee!"

The two continued on their way through the purple-bricked rooms of the RUINS. Seems a little darker than they expected, but hey- the game can't be 100% correct.

That would be a little creepy.

It also seemed that a lot of the little tutorials didn't happen (the long hallway, on a larger note). Perhaps she thought they were old enough to be assuming more independence.

Although...

They hadn't played enough times to remember exactly HOW many vines were hanging off the long hallway walls, but... there were still a lot less than expected? And a lot more golden flowers poking up from the cracked floor?

Strange thing to note, but it makes the dingy place look a lot better at the very least.

.

.

.

Though it looks a little different, the Ruins still were strikingly similar to the game: same puzzles, same monsters, same route they've been playing at their dorm.

Every once in a while, something different would be said or done that would snap them back to reality.

There were no yellow names, no true "SPARE" option. There was no "flavor text" when they took more than one candy from the bowl when Toriel wasn't looking, but they felt their sins crawling on their back nonetheless.

The yellow SAVE point diamonds didn't do anything but glitter and shine- no little spiel about the leaves or the recurring mouse, no feeling of determination... They didn't do anything special.

Then it hits them.

If they die, they die.

There's nothing else for them.

Feeling the tension, Toriel decided to chime in with some familiar small talk. "So, my child, I would like to ask: which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?"

Frisk answers softly that they prefer butterscotch, and Toriel smiles softly at them in response. She continues to ask them about their preferences and hobbies, chiming in that she likes to hunt bugs and teach young monsters about what's written in her old books.

Something she mentions while sitting in her chair in the game after the player's nap. Absentmindedly, Frisk questioned the accuracy of the game...

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.

When the two reached Toriel's cute, purple house -they were tall enough to read the sign above the doorway: "HOME"-, Frisk was warmly invited inside. After she shut the door, Toriel gasped softly in realization:

"I apologize, my child. Are you not hungry?"

After seeing the other shake their head, she sighed.

"I would not want you to starve, are you certain?"

"Yes, I am fine."

"...Well then, please- make yourself at home! I will need time to prepare a room for you, so you may stay up a bit longer while I get everything ready. Be good, alright?" She requested, sauntering down the rightmost hallway and leaving Frisk alone in the entrance hall.

Frisk, clearly remembering the map of HOME, made their way over to the living room to sit by the fire in Toriel's plush chair. If they had been younger, they would have sunk into the fluffy depths of the cushions.

Luckily they were on the taller side.

...

Frisk took this moment to think some more about their situation.

One: Throughout their entire Ruins tour with Toriel, there was no sight of Flowey.

Two: They can't afford to die. Not a single bit.

Three: Napstablook was a lot quieter than they expected.

...That last thought wasn't the most important thing on their mind, but it was always nice to acknowledge a friend.

Frisk slumped back into the chair with a heavy sigh; they really don't know much besides the obvious, and even that shocks them every time they're reminded of it. They only have one shot at getting the Pacifist route (and their intent on killing anyone is luckily nonexistent), but can they survive? The last reset they went pacifist, they died five times to Asgore before they figured it out.

FIVE.

And a couple more to Woshua because they couldn't catch the green bullets but that was beside the point.

What about RESETS.

Will Omega Flowey rear its ugly head?

...

Does Flowey even exist?

Since Toriel was the first face that greeted them instead of that cheeky little flower, they almost reeled back in shock and surprise. Maybe Alphys hadn't gone that far...

They have an idea about who created UNDERTALE.


	3. Chapter 3

((A/N: Did the atmosphere help in the last chapter? Well, I guess you can find another Home one if you want, a sad one. Why? ...I don't remember.))

* * *

Frisk did end up taking a nap on the -rather small- bed to "progress", and then everything went back as they were used to: Toriel made a pie, and was now reading "72 Uses for Snails", as per usual, while waiting for the Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie to cool.

Stepping out of their room, they went to look at the rest of the hallway, seeing as they hadn't checked it yet.

Glancing at their reflection in the mirror, Frisk casually imagined Chara's dialogue in the place where it was supposed to be on their computer screen.

"It's you!"

...

Other than that and Toriel's room -which they didn't bother to check-, there was nothing else to do.

Except what they had to.

.

.

.

"Toriel, uhh... do you know how to leave the RUINS?"

The monster-in-question looked up curiously, previously engrossed in their snail book.

"Of course you may! I have a special path I take regularly from the RUINS for groceries. But, may I ask what for? The question was quite vague," she commented, innocently tilting her head to the side. Her tiny reading glasses risked falling off her nose as she did so.

Frisk sweats.

"I'd... really like to go home," the human answered slowly, feeling a bit of guilt creep into their words. "It's very nice of you to want me to stay, but I have college classes I'd like to finish... and my friends will get worried if I'm away too long..."

Frisk was careful not to mention any family, and that their friends were all online.

"..."

A long silence filled the air as both sides of the conversation grew tense. No one wanted to speak, as if the universe is barely holding itself together when the two breathed. Frisk could only hear the crackling of the fireplace and the blood rushing in their ears.

Eventually Toriel got up from her seat on the plush chair, slowly putting her arms around theirs in a warm embrace.

"...I understand, my child. It would appear that you are not as young as I made you out to be. After all, it sounds as if you have a very bright future ahead of you, and I do not want to get in your way.

"I shall guide you to the end of the RUINS that will lead to the rest of the Underground. The way I normally go for food will not get you all the way through here." She looked down, steeling herself to being a lonely woman once again.

Letting go of Frisk slowly, she started her way back to the entrance hall of "HOME". Turning around, she said,

"When you are ready, please come downstairs."

.

.

.

If there was one thing that the Undertale game got right, it was the atmosphere. The loudest thing Frisk could hear was their footsteps as they treaded through the hallway, the purplish walls bare of decoration or frivolity.

After a few turns forward, they looked up to see a large, formidable door, as well as a familiar, pale face. Toriel wore a smile, but Frisk could tell she was still not ready to be lonely again.

"Ahead of us lies the end of the RUINS. A one-way exit to the rest of the Underground. I hope you are well-prepared. But when you leave... Please do not come back.

I hope you understand."

Then, she hugged them. A long, sorrowful hug that brought both people to their knees.

Despite the comfort that Toriel would never see them die, they still felt that they should send gifts or a message every now and then to make sure she knew they were alright. Maybe that phone number will help, since she might pick up this time.

"Goodbye, my child."

And with that, she picked herself off the ground, rubbed away a tear, and walked away.

...

When Toriel left them alone for the final time, Frisk opened the opposing door with a loud creak. It never occurred to them that the door had the Delta rune on it, despite all the runs they've done in their game, but the circle really did look neat.

A noisy gust of wind blew around them as the snow of the forest crunched under their feet, sending a shiver through their body.

They saw their breath form into foggy clouds, making them randomly wonder how warm Hotland was going to be.

The dreary forest just beyond the RUINS always was a little creepy, and even though they knew what -or who- was watching them, they still couldn't help but feel unnerved by the real thing.

...

It's been a while since they saved, but then they nearly laughed out loud because that's the exact thing that they can't do. Looks like they needed a break, so they sat near a yellow diamond anyway and healed up with their items.

Time for a phone call.

Checking their pockets for their Cell Phone, they pulled out the Monster Candies, the Spider Donut, the Butterscotch Pie -all plastic-wrapped for convenience-, they realized

they didn't even get the goddamn phone.


	4. Chapter 4

((A/N: Let's just get to the point.))

* * *

Looking around at the unnerving scenery, Frisk couldn't help but wonder:

...

Where was Sans?

They passed by the spot where the stick was supposed to be, and nothing was there. Not even the stick. There was no shuffling of feet, no snapping of twigs...

Even the shadow of him they would normally see out of the corner of their eye was unaccounted for.

The bridge didn't have its too-wide bars, and seemed practically unused. Pretty old, too, since they nearly fell through a hole into the chilly river below when a wooden plank snapped under their weight.

...

Were they in a world where the skeleton brothers didn't exist?

Or were they just too young or something?

Either way, they weren't expecting this playthrough -it wasn't a playthrough anymore, no, situation- to be so much different than the video game, but it seems that's not the case. Maybe they won't be able to fight Undyne, or Mettaton, or Asgore.

Well, Asgore still be around at the very least. If Toriel was still in the RUINS, he'd definitely be found at New Home.

Maybe they won't even have to fight him.

At any rate, they still needed to get through the Underground, and that was gonna be a hassle.

Luckily the random monsters that appeared grounded Frisk's sense of judgement; otherwise, they'd probably think they were playing another Kill-All run.

Jerry was still a nightmare, though.

.

.

.

Snowdin still looked pretty normal, despite the different faces. The Christmas tree was still up, with some presents still addressed from Santa to the various locals. The undersnow tunnels were still there to allow for more-or-less quick transport. The Dimensional Box was somehow still available and next to the sparkly, now-useless Save point, as per usual.

Several of the main regulars are still around, but if anything, they're too young to do what they normally would. Grillby, for one, is still learning to cook the signature meal at his father's restaurant -also named Grillby, must run in the family-, and the Shopkeeper is babysitting her sister in what would be her future shop.

The Inn was still available, and after a bit of haggling, Frisk secured a room to sleep in for a night. 80 gold is a lot of money, but they had enough to spend.

Looking around, Frisk saw that the orange demon near the northern part of town was still smiling, despite it all. If anything, they were a little shorter than what the human was used to.

Frisk wondered if they started smiling even earlier than now, but that was a passing thought.

The Library was still as amusing as ever, but it was a little different this time around: the Librarian that would normally mention the sign inside the building is now scolding some builders about the misspelling on said sign, asking for it to be redone- for apparently the third time.

The sign the builders were taking down read, "Librery".

Seems the typo is a universal concept.

.

.

.

When they got to what would have been Sans and Papyrus' house, there stood in place a wooden cabin with nary a drop of bright color.

Granted, they expected nothing less at this point, but it was a little bizarre to not see the colorful Christmas lights, the skull pirate flag, and warm, and inviting lights from the windows.

It was just... dark.

Frisk hoped that wasn't a sign, and continued on their way to Waterfall.

.

.

.

Usually the Snowdin arc would have taken several hours to get through in-game, but this time it only took less than half an hour. And Snowdin was a LOT larger than the gamed made it out to be. Maybe they will be able to reach Asgore's castle in a few days.

Days? Nights? Who can honestly tell the difference down here, anyway?

...

Whatever.

Luckily, they may not have to go through everything again, and since the skeleton brothers aren't around, perhaps Undyne won't be around to shank them in the eyes, either.

At least, not for revenge. If anything, she's probably a little kid following around old turtle Gerson like a lost puppy.

Wouldn't that be a sight to see.

If only they had their phone to take a few pictures of her being a cute little fishy, but their normal phone died after trying so hard to get connectable data. It was pretty dumb, for a smartphone.

They doubted it would be of any use in the Underground, but it was a comfort item at this point and they kept it around.

They don't need to get homesick in a place like this.


	5. Chapter 5

Hearing the water rushing through Waterfall fills you with DETERMINATION.

Not really.

It's a shame that the SAVE points don't do a thing anymore, so Frisk had been making the little messages as they went. If they were good enough to make a mod of Undertale, they imagined they would have so much fun filling in all the dialogue...

But that's just a dream, so they'll just keep it to themselves. Providing your own flavor text is a lot of work, you know!

.

.

.

Around halfway through the cool area of the Underground, however, something stood out a little more differently than the typical changes.

Frisk was just going to pass through and maybe buy some items from Gerson when they saw the monster in question talking with what appeared to look like a giant purple robe.

Asgore.

Asgore was chatting up a storm with a slightly younger-looking Gerson while Undyne tugged at the king's cape for what may be another sparring match. The king looked down and smiled apologetically, and ruffled the fish monster's red hair.

Even as the years go by and they met Frisk for the first time, Asgore is so kindhearted that he doesn't want to reject a friend's request. The death of his children and the disappearance of his wife is so much more recent now than it was in the game, how could he stand even talking to people?

Frisk had to admire his strength to go on.

"Do not worry, my friend. If she wants to knock me down, I will not stop her from trying," Asgore's voice echoed reassuringly.

"I know that, Fluffybuns! But I would think it's better to do it at another time? After all, you've still got other errands to run, don'tcha? People to see?" croaked Gerson, getting up from his seat on a nearby rock.

...

"...You're right. I still have to check up on Psyren's condition and tend to my flowers. Thank you for reminding me," the King said after a moment of thought. Kneeling down towards child Undyne, he whispered something that may have been an accepted challenge, judging from the little fish's hyped-up attitude.

Saying their goodbyes, both sides of the conversation went on their way without a look in Frisk's direction.

Seems they'll have to meet Asgore a little later, but maybe they can catch up on some lore with Gerson?

.

.

.

"Ah, right! I forgot about that!"

As usual.

Frisk decided to take a few minutes -well, hours now- to learn what they could about the Underground, outside of what they knew from the game.

So far, all they really know is that Shyren's sister -Psyren- is alive but not well, having some sort of chronic illness that has her unable to move properly. Apparently Shyren's Agent from Undertale was originally her sister's assistant, but only time can tell if that's actually the case.

They did look awfully familiar, though.

Continuing on another topic, Gerson had also mentioned Asgore acting much more cheerful recently.

"...Somethin' about the Royal Scientist's progress on the Core? Who knows, really," the war veteran mused. "I don't know if that plan'll work, but might as well give it a shot! Wahaha!"

It was only now that the Core was being built?

Although, it was thought that the castle was built before the Core, so maybe it wasn't that far-fetched of an idea after all. Wasn't there evidence of this in the Library books or something?

Maybe they won't have to do all those vent puzzles in Hotland; now that was a nice thought.

.

.

.

Frisk figured now was a good time to move on and tried to steer the casually cheerful conversation to an end.

"Anyway, you should better be on your way, kiddo. Gets pretty dangerous around here, 'specially for a human like you."

They stopped.

The growing feeling of dread and fear hung over the two, and for some reason Frisk couldn't help but shiver.

"You didn't think I forgot, didja? I may be older than you'll ever be, but that doesn't mean I didn't forget what happened less than a century ago," Gerson continued.

"I won't do anything about it, but I do know that you weren't involved in the war yourself, and some monsters around here might not realize that. I'd watch your back kiddo."

...

"...Thank you for the warning, Gerson."

And with that, both monster and human walked away.


	6. Chapter 6

((A/N: I would like to give a big thank-you to those that have stuck with this story so far! I plan on it being a LOT longer and more fast-paced in the future, so hopefully even MORE newcomers can feel welcome aboard the AU-Train! Choo choo!

So, it's been pretty interesting so far. ...Hope you've gotten comfortable. After all, it only goes downhill from here. Why do you think this chapter is a tad bit longer? There's some fun stuff in this one.

And for the few who PM-ed me a while back, believe me when I say there is always a reason why I write things a certain way, why I introduce X character, why I set this timeframe...

...Let's just say, time will tell. If the rest of you would like a better explanation, PM me! Write a thoughtful review! I answer things on postpacifist-undertale's Tumblr! Now, onwards!))

* * *

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.

.

Logically speaking, there was no way those Bridge Seed Flowers should be able to hold their weight.

Nor should Jerrys be so freaking annoying.

Nor should most of the monsters down here be physically able to exist, really.

But that's just the way the Underground is.

Frisk picked up an umbrella and made their way back to the stone statue they passed, with its upper half drenched in eternal rain from above. It seemed to be... unfinished.

Spying some movement, they crouched down to examine the statue more clearly to find many tiny insect-like monsters working to build said statue. It was difficult to tell what they were all chattering about, but it seemed to do with their job. They couldn't tell if any of those monsters looked up from their work, but they waved hello nevertheless.

Trying to figure out where to put the umbrella on the unfinished statue, Frisk was greeted with several tiny voices of disagreement.

Taking the hint, the human left the statue and its builders alone and continued on their way with their umbrella.

.

.

.

The dark room where they could see their first glimpse of the castle was more beautiful than the game pixels could replicate.

All the glittering stones on the ceiling and scattered haphazardly on all surfaces glinted bright and pure with every light bouncing off its' surfaces, untouched by any means; the looming castle covered in a soft, calming glow from the lights that emanate from within it; the distant sound of rushing waterfalls and the memory of a soft music box...

The monsters had only lived with this, a vague resemblance of the stars their race hasn't seen in decades.

They felt more of the urge to push onward, to save these wonderful people trapped underneath this wretched mountain.

.

.

.

It didn't take too long to catch up with Asgore -who was a lot taller than they thought, at least 7 feet tall-, and once they did the first thing they did was tug at his cape.

That might not have been the best course of action, but if they did anything else to catch his attention it might cause some trouble. Maybe he'll be more inclined to treat them like a child, and less like an enemy?

"Yes yes, who is it?"

He turned around with a peaceful expression at first, then looked down a bit and gasped in shock. The last thing he expected today was a human to be gripping his cape like a lost puppy, and alarms went off in his head telling him to getawayfleerun-

"...Asgore?"

It knew his name. What does it want?

It might not have any weapons drawn but he readied his sword anyway.

"Wh... who are you? What do you want?" he spoke gravely, trying to hide the fear from his voice. The human was in such close range, he wouldn't stand a chance if they engaged in battle-

...

Frisk really didn't mean any harm, and they said so quietly. Their mind was ablaze with ideas on how they convey that truth, so they took off their locket, dropped their bag and took out its contents, and offered their hand for a handshake. If there was anything else he needed to see to prove that they were harmless, they would follow through with it.

Luckily, that was all it took to convince him, and he dropped his guard. He began to walk again, but a bit slower so his new company could keep up, and he kept conversation by asking a few questions.

"I didn't think the Underground really existed, actually," Frisk commented dismissively, and an interesting conversation took off from there. It might not have been the best idea to keep going, but what's there to lose?

"What did you say?"

"Well, schools don't really talk about this place at all, so no one knows about its history or what's happened. It was only after a certain video game came out that Mt. Ebott became the talk of the town. ...It's also how I got the bright idea to fall down here in the first place..."

"...I see. I don't understand the situation very well, but-"

...

After Frisk allowed him to open up a it more with the small-talk, Asgore managed to admit what he's been hiding away ever since that fateful day.

He sighed.

"Perhaps she doesn't love me anymore. That is fine, she is allowed her own opinions of me.

"I just hope she is happy and doing well, wherever she is."

He looked down at his feet in dismay.

The human wanted to comfort him as well as they could, and slowly they offered to keep him company for as long as they were able.

"R-really? You would do that for... for me?" he stuttered, surprised at the very least at the proposition. "After all I've done, after all I've said, you'd rather stay with me than try to get back home?"

There was a quiet pause as Frisk nodded in response, then they were lifted up in a tight embrace as they heard Asgore shakily breathe out words of gratitude through heavy snuffling.

Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all.

.

.

.

Days passed, and Frisk could swear they'd died and gone to heaven. Under the protection of the one and only King Asgore, they had nothing to fear. Everyone was glad the melancholy atmosphere around their king disappeared overnight, even if they were a little confused as to how it happened.

Every morning the human was greeted with a delightful cup of tea in the royal garden with Asgore, and breakfast was never the same as they were treated to various foods they've never heard of before- naturally, only a few of them sat well with them.

They still tried everything, in hopes that something will strike their interests like those Hush Puppies that one morning.

Frisk even celebrated little Undyne's 4th birthday with everyone, and they offered a rock that was vaguely in the shape of a fish as a gift that she instantly snatched away from them upon seeing it. Who knew where she got those googly-eyes?

It was a good time.

For a while.

.

.

.

Fast footsteps were heard through the golden hallway as little Undyne made her way to the King's throne room.

She wanted to find out if a sneak attack would work on her target, and prepared herself all night for yet another sparring match.

Though she hadn't been fully healed from when she accidentally acquired those few scratches during one of her previous bouts, and that Asgore refused to battle with her afterwards.

Her stubbornness refused to listen to his orders, and here she was, patiently waiting in the grey throne room entrance for her stamina and strength to come back. Maybe she shouldn't have run with her handmade spear from her home in Waterfall all the way to the castle, but that wasn't an issue.

She sharpened a triangle-shaped stone that she found in one of the rivers near her house, roughly tying it to a metal pole she picked up from the garbage dump a few weeks ago.

She KNEW it was going to come in handy someday.

Sneaking a peek to see if her target was there, she saw the King and his new human companion, Frisk, having tea as usual. Same time, same place.

This was gonna be easy.

Hopefully she can aim right...

...What was she thinking? Of COURSE she was going to aim right! Who was she to think of herself otherwise?!

But Asgore and Frisk were a little closer together than she thought when she readied her spear...

As long as they didn't move, everything would turn out okay.

...

Frisk should have known this wasn't going to last forever.

The last thing they remembered was a threatening battle cry rushing towards them as they got up to pour Asgore another cup of tea, and a sudden pain surging through their body as Undyne's spear went clear through their chest.


	7. Chapter 7

"F-Frisk...?"

No response.

"Frisk... are you alright?"

...

Asgore was paralyzed with dread. He could feel his paws shake as he moved them to turn Frisk's body to face upwards. He saw the pale, shocked face of another human's corpse, felt it losing the radiating body heat it used to have less than a minute ago. Something salty began rolling down his cheeks as he picked up the fallen human's body.

A pale red light glowed from Frisk's abandoned locket a tad ways away, but the king ignored its persistence to wallow in his denial.

This isn't real. It can't be.

...

Something was missing.

Where was Frisk's soul?

It was supposed to be revealed about now, and yet...

On the verge of tears, the last thing that set Asgore off was closing Frisk's widened eyes before they wouldn't be able to. If left alone long enough, the human body's muscles would not be able to remain flexible and became, quite literally, dead weight.

Like Chara's did, not that long ago. Their eyes lurched open as they took their last sickly breath, and their blood-red eyes stayed open because of how long everyone's grieving took.

Their body wouldn't rest in peace, but everyone hoped they will.

The king let out a broken sob that echoed through the castle's corridors, announcing the loss of yet another member of his family as the human's body slowly went stiff.

.

.

.

Undyne stood in the middle of the room, unmoving.

What just happened?!

For a moment, a blur of white filled her vision as a tall monster in a lab coat rushed by her to kneel at Asgore's side.

"Asgore, my friend, is everything alright? I was on my way here to conduct those tests you asked me for, and then I heard you shout," W.D. Gaster prodded anxiously, wearing more concern than his usually neutral face. The monster in question never looked up from Frisk's body, seeming to ignore the other monster's presence.

"T-take her," he croaked between hiccups. "Take her and explain what happened. Please, I... I would like to be left alone."

Gaster looked at his old friend thoughtfully, then nodded and led Undyne away.

.

.

.

She was such an idiot! Now because of her, Frisk was...

Frisk was...

He started, "I know it was not your intention, Undyne, but..."

"...If I hadn't done that, they would still be alive..." Undyne interrupted, looking down at her teacup in shame.

Gaster, Royal Scientist that he was, wasn't usually available as a comforting friend and was more than a little unnerved at the idea of a child -especially rowdy Undyne- showing weakness. He left that department to the king and everyone else.

Nevertheless, he did everything he thought was right to calm her, right down to offering her a cup of tea while she was currently engulfed in a blanket. But there's just something about seeing a little kid crying that gets on his nerves, and he didn't really know what to say about it...

"It was an accident, Undyne. The more you blame yourself, the worse you will feel. Forgive yourself and let it go," he barked, causing her to flinch.

That might have been a mistake.

"U-uh, I mean... No one always has to take the blame, so just..." He tried to snatch his words back, but somehow his urging seemed to snap her out of it.

She sniffled.

"I... uh, thanks. I shouldn't be a crybaby. Big girls don't cry," she whispered. Getting up to leave -most likely to apologize to Asgore, she turned her head to whisper a small "thank-you" before running off.

Did...

Did Gaster handle that okay?

.

.

.

It was weird, this feeling.

Were they alive?

Were they dead?

It was hard to tell.

Now, say they were alive. Why aren't they feeling anything?

They moved to open their eyes, but the eyes they opened weren't so familiar.

They opened their eyes to see Asgore grieving over their dead body, but they were watching it unfold from outside their body, from afar.

Wait, that's not right. Shouldn't they be looking from their own body?

They went to move their arms, but a pair of leaves rustled by their sides instead.

Looking down with some effort, all they saw was their shiny locket, the grass, and flowers... much closer than before. The locket must have fallen near where they currently stood during the process. Asgore still clutched onto their body like his life depended on it, the murder weapon abandoned in the bloodied flowers nearby. The scent of freshly-spilled blood made it all too clear what happened.

It didn't take a mirror for Frisk to realize just exactly what they became.

...

I'm just like Flowey.


	8. Chapter 8

Asgore shouldn't see me like this, Frisk thought with hesitation. He doesn't need to see the situation I'm in, not like this.

They willed themselves to go underground, like Flowey used to do in the game.

Nothing happened.

Trying again, with more effort, they felt something pull up from underneath them and froze. A thorny vine uncovered itself from the loamy earth, then stopped just short of Frisk's petals that covered their face in defense.

Once they realized that the vine was under their control, they quickly scrambled to regain their composure and set the vine down at their feet.

Roots.

Whatever.

It's been a long day, despite it probably being late morning at the most.

.

.

.

So... now what?

It didn't take that long to figure out how to travel underground -only a few weeks to get it down properly-, but it took so much longer to learn how to get where they needed to go.

After several days of tunneling themselves in the dirt, Frisk popped out of the ground facing the giant door to the RUINS, made much larger with their new appearance. With practice that they didn't expect to want, they would be able to get around just as fast as Flowey.

And preferably with less dirt in their mouth.

A burrow under the door was all it took to get back into the RUINS. A thought bubbled up in the head that they should visit Toriel, but in the situation they were in, that probably wouldn't be the best idea.

Best if they didn't, then. They'll leave soon enough.

.

.

.

During their brief stay in the RUINS, they encountered Napstablook again. It wasn't the greatest idea they had at the moment, but Frisk liked to keep up with the news.

"yeah, another human fell down some time after toriel led the taller human away..." the timid ghost replied. Why a flower was talking to them wasn't really a big concern. "it was a small human, i think. they looked a little rowdy and i left them alone... i didn't want to get in their way...

"oh, speaking of getting in the way, i'm talking too much... sorry..."

Before Frisk could comfort Napstablook, the ghost had already become incorporeal. They decided they got enough information to work with, and Frisk popped back into the ground to find that new child.

.

.

.

Frisk couldn't help but feel betrayed when they saw Toriel walking hand-in-hand with another person through the puzzles, but they quickly remembered how lonely she must have been all those years ago before they fell down. In retrospect, it was either leave the RUINS on a good note or somehow die here, and it felt like leaving was the best option.

Because they were rooted to the spot wherever they re-emerged from the ground, it was a bit of a hassle to follow the duo, but every once in a while they would catch bits and pieces of their conversation.

"...stay here in the RUINS with me," Toriel finished, letting go of the child's hand.

"But what if I want to go home?" the child questioned, looking up from the Spider Donut in their free hand.

"Borna..."

Borna? Was that their name?

They never really noticed, but this kid's appearance was kinda familiar for some reason.

I mean, does everyone wear a bandanna with lines scrawled all over it? Even that pink glove on their left hand? That nasty, shaggy hair covering their eyes? Is that what kids are into nowadays?

Jeez, this kid needs some better fashion sense. And hygiene. But if they just died, then maybe it wouldn't be such a big deal any... more...

...

Where did all that come from?! That wasn't nice at all!

Maybe they really were becoming like...

They pushed down the thought as quickly as it bubbled up. There was no way they would become like that. They can't.

They WON'T.

Borna was so happy looking, so innocent; they can't tear that away from them. They didn't seem to want to cause trouble, at least, so maybe they'll just supervise from afar.

Best not to confront them yet, anyway. At least not with Toriel around.

.

.

.

After what felt like hours, Frisk found Borna left alone, politely seated on a rock that had given consent. Toriel must have been busy again.

Frisk had taken a few moments to suppress whatever heinous thoughts that rose up again before popping up in front of the kid.

It also hit them that this was the second time that they spoke to anyone since becoming a flower, causing them to stutter inadvertently.

"H-Howdy!" Why freaking 'howdy', of all greetings-

"Howdy back, partner! What are you doin' out here?" Borna replied with a thick accent, leaning down so their chest was at their knees.

"Well, ah, you can just call me Frisk. Anyway, I heard rumors of a human that fell down here-" -they carefully worded their sentence so that they weren't mentioned themselves- "-and I wanted to find out if they were a good one or not."

"I'm good, I promise! I won't hurt nobody!" The child swore, tightly gripping a necklace pendant Frisk didn't see that they wore. They managed to make out a blunt point of metal, so it was presumably a silver cross. Religious folk.

"...Alright then, that's good! But uhh... This might be rude, but are you a boy or girl? Or something else, even?" This had nothing to do with anything, but it was a good question to ask anyway.

"I'm a boy, I think... Yup! ...Wait, what's the last thing all about?"

"Okay, so there are boys and girls- the considered "norm". Some other people don't fit in those genders, or they don't like to be called them for whatever reason they have. You might have noticed earlier that Toriel referred to that ghost you met as "they;" that's their pronoun of choice," Frisk explained slowly.

Borna nodded as if he understood, so they kept going.

"Some people don't mind being called multiple types of pronouns, and those can classify as "genderfluid." I won't get into much detail on any more, but that's the gist of the last part."

"Ohh... that makes a load of sense! Thanks lil' flower!"

"I-it's Frisk, please."

"'Kay then."

The two sat in silence for a minute, then they heard a gruff clearing of a throat. Looking around, neither could figure out where the voice came from until the rock shifted, sending Borna stumbling off of it.

"Sorry there kids, but you've overstayed your welcome here. I'm a busy guy, so I'll have to ask you to leave for a while."

"O-oh, apologies Mr. Rock! I'll leave y'all alone then," Borna replied with a mock bow. "Thank you sir!" Then he turned away to leave the room, back to Toriel's home. Frisk quickly followed suit, only slightly concerned that they wouldn't be able to burrow into the floor of said home without causing a mess.

.

.

.

The floor was surprisingly easier to tunnel through than they thought. But to avoid ruining any more of Toriel's cleaning work, the two promised to meet each other outside in the garden every morning.

So every morning, Borna would wake up, roll out of bed, run outside, and say hello to their new friend.

"Howdy lil' fl- I mean, Frisk! 'Morning!" he shouted at a tall, un-bloomed flower in the garden one morning. It stayed silent. He bent down to get a better look, not realizing the flower next to it clearing its throat.

"Frisk?"

"That's the wrong flower, kid," Frisk replied, barely managing to stifle their unreasonable annoyance. It was just a simple mistake, why were they so mad about it anyway? But something just ticked them off.

"O-oh, sorry about that! It's uhh... a little hard to tell you from the other flowers! I mean, I can tell the difference when you're alone, but-"

"-Just... forget about it. What are you planning to do today?" Frisk interrupted, changing the topic.

Guess it was lucky kids are kind of ignorant with these things.

"Well, I was thinkin'... What's through that door downstairs?"

"..."

"What? I'm just curious. Is it somethin' bad or somethin'? Mom doesn't want to tell me," he wondered. The way he talked so parental about Toriel irked them for some reason, but they ignored it.

"I... I don't think it's the best idea for you to go down there yet," Frisk replied. "There's a reason that place is locked; it's pretty cold back there." Pretty cold, more like you'll freeze to death in those clothes...

"Have you gone in there?"

"Yeah, I have a few times."

"Can you take me?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Frisk sighed. This kid asks WAY too many questions.

"Just... just listen to me, okay? Don't go down there anymore, you won't like it."

"Is it because you're a flower and flowers don't like the co-"

"JUST SHUT UP! DON'T GO DOWN THERE, LISTEN TO ME YOU LITTLE-"

Borna froze.

Wait. That's not like them at all. Frisk sighed again, closing their eyes they're still not sure how they have.

"S-sorry, I'm just... I guess I'm not having a good day today," the flower looked down.

...

"That's alright. We all have bad days, so don't you worry 'bout it. My pa got them all the time, and hollering was the least he'd do..." He looked down, deep in thought.

Man, now they feel bad. The last thing they would have wanted to do was have him revisit his bad memories, and look at what they did anyway. Having no remorse anymore is really going to get them in trouble one of these days. It's a weird feeling, not having as many positive emotions as they used to.

Hopefully they can gain them all back soon.

...

With as much sympathy as they could muster, they spoke up, carefully choosing their words.

"...You really want to see what's behind that door?"


	9. Chapter 9

((A/N: Don't blame me for this one, guys, just relax and enjoy the ride~

...That's not very comforting, is it. Whoops, sorry.))

* * *

After the initial shock of a first meeting, both sides established a little routine in the morning: wake up, go to the SAVE point in front of "Home", say hello to the other. It was only going to be a quick greeting, and then both acquaintances would go their separate ways. A good two weeks had gone by like this, and Frisk found themselves almost liking the routine- just because it was repetitive and that fact gave them a break to focus on regaining their emotions.

Which seem to get further and further out of reach with every passing day.

Eventually Frisk was also able to get a closer look at Borna's necklace -through the owner's permission, of course-, and though it was indeed a silver cross, clasp, and chain, there was also a peculiar string of words on it:

Ebott Christian Orphanage, Borna W.

Frisk didn't bother to ask what the W. stood for, having enough tact to stay away from it for fear of the consequences.

.

.

.

One fateful day, Frisk and Borna agreed to meet in front of the doors at the end of the basement. The corridor was exactly the way they remembered it, but just a bit dustier than usual; maybe she hasn't been down here and tidied up for a while.

It might have even been as long as they left... They set the thought aside.

"You ready?" Frisk asked, ruffling their yellow petals from the dirt that they popped up from under. They got a hesitant nod in reply, putting an exasperated frown on their face. The human child flinched a bit as the flower spoke up, albeit slightly harsher than they expected it to.

"If you didn't want to see what's behind this thing, you shouldn't have to make me go out of my way to help you."

"N-naw, it's not that... It's just... I didn't tell Mom about my leaving, yanno? I feel bad about it," Borna rubbed his arm sheepishly, and Frisk couldn't help but bring up a leaf to smack their face. They made a mental note to reprimand him later for his pronoun choice, since now didn't seem like the right time.

"You said you were READY!"

"I-I know! But..." He paused, looking down at his feet. Maybe he was feeling guilty or something; Frisk could hardly distinguish emotions anymore. "Wouldn't it be a better idea to tell her instead of just... sneak off?"

Frisk looked at them with an impatient look that in retrospect wasn't the best thing to do. "I don't have time for this. We either go or we don't."

After mulling it over for a few more pressured seconds, Borna looked back to Frisk with tears in his eyes. Frisk noticed he was clutching his silver cross again but paid no heed to it.

"F-fine then. Let's go."

Frisk looked on emotionlessly as Borna stepped forward to open the heavy steel door with a deafening creak that echoed through the halls.

They could swear someone was frantically running down the winding corridors as the door slammed shut behind the escapees...

.

.

.

"M-M-Man, it's c-colder than I t-thought out here..."

"'I could've told you that- but you get- used to it," Frisk said curtly, popping in and out of the ground to keep up with Borna's pace. This kid could walk pretty fast if he wanted to...

"I-I'm just s-s-sayin'... A-and you told me about the town- uh, Snowdin, right? That's beyond here, right?

Sigh... " _YES_ , Borna."

"S-Sorry, I was just askin'..."

Yeah, this wasn't happening. As soon as Frisk could, they were gonna leave this kid alone. They did their part; what's the point of sticking around when they had better things to do? A smaller part of themselves prattled on about how it was unsafe for the boy, but that was quickly smothered as the two traveled onward.

Although, there was no telling what that kid might end up doing, being all delirious and desperate for warmth... He might end up burning them in a fire or something! They could imagine it now: their leaves turning to ashes in a guttering crimson flame, their locket -that was the only thing reminding them of who they were before- being sold for just enough money to spend a night at the Snowed Inn...

That's not the kind of death they wanted, really. They would have really preferred not to die at all, but in the body of a flower that seemed practically impossible- how did Flowey manage? He might have had SAVE files, but still...

The locket they had must do something, right? It had a soft blue glow to it, but they didn't think it really meant anything- the color didn't fit with the other Soul colors, as far as they could remember... Now that they think about it, what was even the point of this thing? They just found it on a coat rack in their dorm room, how could it be anything special? If anything, it was probably...

That was too much musing, he's trying to get your attention now. What did he want again?

"Kid, you want directions to Snowdin? I have to go do some things," Frisk scrambled to think up a good excuse, and even that wasn't the best thing they could have said at that point in time. They went with it anyway.

Borna looked up from his seat on a hard lump of snow, shivering and turning blue around the edges. "Y-Y-You can't be leaving, are you? What'll... Wh-What'll I do without you?"

He really did look terrible and pathetic, but as a flower Frisk couldn't really do much but offer companionship- even if it was subtle threats and annoyed responses. Frisk could almost muster up what felt like guilt and shame for leaving this kid behind, but they felt that the longer they stayed with him the worse it would be for the both of them.

"L-Look, it's... It's hard to explain. Do you want directions or not?"

The flower managed to decipher a shaky nod in approval, and Frisk delved into the quickest way to get to Snowdin.

...

It's been a few months, right? Maybe those skeleton brothers will be born and alive or something. Finally, that little town can be of use.

At any rate, they waved off the boy with a word of dismissal, and the sounds of snow crunching under untied sneakers faded away into the blizzard of the wintery forest. Frisk watched on for a bit until Borna was just an orange blur in the distance before tunneling themselves under the snow.

.

.

.

"Did you hear? Some weird monster or something passed through Snowdin Forest and just... Collapsed! Out of nowhere!"

Frisk hadn't heard from Borna in a while; it's been at least a few days since they even caught wind of him at all- from eavesdropping and sneaking peeks at monsters' fallen newspapers, naturally. Several times, they caught themselves being concerned and even worried for the child, but every time they registered it, the emotion disappeared as soon as it bubbled up.

Something about subconscious, maybe? Whatever.

In any case, Frisk thought it was a good enough time to look for him when he overheard a couple of monsters talking gossip about the latest news from Snowdin.

Apparently it tumbled down a ways before attempting to climb back up the slope, only to fail and was found unconscious and half-buried in snow. Many -read: all that Frisk overheard from- have began to speculate that the creature was human after they heard rumors that it had "fallen down" in a bed of the Snowed Inn- and didn't turn to dust.

If Frisk retained any of their knowledge from being a medical major for a year and a half, they would have known that the human-in-question died from hypothermia. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, but the cause of death wasn't really much of their concerns.

...Was the human Borna?

Though there was enough evidence, they really didn't want to confirm their suspicions until they saw the kid with their own two eyes. A feeling of... Denial, was it? came over them in waves, and Frisk wasn't really sure what to believe anymore.

If anything, the guilty feeling was because they let a kid die, most likely the same one that they left behind. They just left it at that.

The manager and the employees didn't know what to do with it, so they closed that specific room off to the public until they could figure out what to do with the body, which Frisk was almost relieved to hear. But there was just a teensy little problem: no average monster, much less a flower, was even allowed on the second floor of the Snowed Inn without a Room Key. It's not like they had any gold on them, either, so buying a key was out of the question.

Only the manager and the employees are even given access to those things, so how would they...


	10. Chapter 10

((A/N: Warning for constriction. And violence. And resemblance to breaking bones and bleeding. And death threats. And lots of sadism. And visually describing a child victim of hypothermia. Yeeeaaaaahh, I'm not too proud of this one. Skip/ignore this chapter if you're squeamish; believe me, if I wasn't writing it I'd skip it too. Yeesh!

On another note, have a Happy Thanksgiving week my fellow celebrators! That's next week, but I'm gonna be busy catching up on homework so I had to post this one early. Maybe the next one will be lighter! And for the rest of you, I hope you have a great November!

I'm also gonna be updating Trainertale and hopefully Kishintale by the end of the break, so be on the lookout for them! :D))

* * *

...

They might have a solution for that, actually.

This was something they've never done before, but for some reason it felt like they could pull it off on the first try. Sure, it might ruin their clean-slate reputation, but no one was gonna remember a little yellow flower, right? A measly key going missing and a possibly-traumatic experience for one monster wouldn't mean much in the long run...

Plus, Borna better be grateful that Frisk even bothered to visit his corpse at all- if it was even his corpse. It was only going to be a quick look, and once they felt queasy they would just look away and be on their way to...

Hm.

Where would they go, anyway? At least Borna gave them something to mess with, but up until now did Frisk realize how short-term that whole arc was. Then again, what other things can they expect to do with only one SAVE file that they can't even control?

Nothing, really.

.

.

.

After pulling a few strings and making a loud noise with the empty trash cans out back, Frisk was able to get what seemed like an employee of Snowed Inn to step away from the bunny lady at the front desk and go through the back door. They perked up from the piles of overturned trash to hear an exclamation that would have frightened children to see an angry orange rabbit monster stringing colorful swears about the spilled garbage.

Conveniently past the bunny monster's line of sight, Frisk took this time to prepare an attack. There may have been many more pacifistic alternatives to what they were doing, but honestly they weren't up to being nice lately.

It's unfortunate, but that seems to be a universal thing with being soulless.

Only looking behind itself when a shadow blocked the artificial sun above its head, the monster looked positively horrified at the sight of thorny vines looming above it. The vines snapped and popped through the snow with speeding growth as the thorns grew redder and sharper with every passing second.

Frisk was mildly surprised that they didn't use up more energy to summon those, but that wasn't what they focused on.

They desperately wanted to say they hated the look of terror on the bunny's face, that it would be burned into their mind's eye 'till they died, but it was very hard for them to lie about how they truly felt.

Without batting an eye, the flower willed a vine to tightly coil around the monster's body and relished in the satisfying CRACK of a magical embodiment of bone. Every bump of damage they inflicted on it was accepted with more joy than they expected; the slight trickles of magic dripping from its legs with the concept of blood made them feel empowered. No wonder Flowey enjoyed hurting people so much. It was so... so...

FUN.

...It was only the feeling of purpose, not remorse, and the whining of excruciating pain from their victim that brought them out of their twisted reverie.

"Wh-what do you want from me, y-you demon?!"

They almost smiled at the insult. It was so relevant, wasn't it?

"I don't want to do this, and you don't want to be in this. Just fork over what I want and you can go scot-free," Frisk hissed, sending a shiver up the monster's spine. It squeaked in fear when Frisk drew up the second thorny vine to its throat.

"W-what're you lookin' for, then?!"

"Hush!" The flower barked, causing the coiling vine to inflict a bit more damage. Quickly the two went silent, and Frisk checked down the alley for any interruptions. Assured by the casual din that went with living in a bustling town, they returned to their hostage.

"I want a key. A specific key, the one that opens the key to the human's room."

The bunny monster visibly shrank a bit, it's voice just barely above a whisper. "Th-that one? But... but whyever would you want that?!"

Frisk really didn't know how to respond. Why were they going out of their way to see a dead kid?

"...For reassurance." Pausing again, they decided to get to the bunny's instructions.

"Get the key. Give it to me, and no one you know will get hurt," Frisk ordered, not bothering to hide the threat of what would happen if the monster failed its task. Nodding quickly, the bloodied mess of a monster was unceremoniously dropped onto the snow and the vines slowly retracted, leaving two gaping holes in the ground. Scrambling to its feet with hisses of pain, the bunny monster limped its way back through the backdoor where it came from.

That went well. Now all that's left is to wait for that coward to bring the key.

Though they would have spent this kind of time reviewing their actions, Frisk barely felt anything about the events that just took place. All they could truly recall was a surge of adrenaline and a slight loss of power, but everything else remained a blur.

They noticed a bright blue glowing coming from their heart locket that was still somehow on their stem. It's not like they had any hands or small sharp things to pry it open, and even though they could use vines, they weren't quite sure they even WANTED it open...

A dull wave of pain sifted through their body, and they didn't really know why. Was it the locket?

Another wave of pain, stronger this time. Maybe it was the locket; if they don't think about it, maybe the pain will go away.

They'll just wait for the bunny monster to come back, then.

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It didn't take that long to get their little helper to cooperate, and it took even less time for it to come back with what they wanted. The silver key clinked against their locket as they wore it upstairs, and they were unsure how they could just pop upstairs but not into the human's -not Borna's- room.

There were probably stone floors or something; they didn't dare question it too much.

Clicking the door open, the door creaked a bit as a vine slipped through the doorframe, bringing Frisk along with it.

The room was dark and smelled of wet snow and bloodied clothes, something they really didn't feel like smelling at the moment. Getting closer to the bed, the smell got stronger, but it was also tinged with cold. A cold body, specifically. It's hard to describe the smell of the cold, but it was as clear as crystal. The face was luckily covered at first glance; Frisk was already getting a little squeamish. Just through blindly poking the body with a vine a few times, they could tell this was the same kid they left behind.

Borna W.

The silver cross had been left untouched, and Frisk considered claiming it, but they decided it was better to let sleeping dogs lie.

They covered their eyes with a leaf and drew away from the room, feeling mixed emotions.

What they didn't see was their heart locket glowing dimly, with a soft orange wisp being pulled away from the child's silver cross and into the light of the locket. It glowed orange at first, then blue, as if accepting something before it faded to its usual silver sheen.

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No one was able to find out who attacked the manager, and even if they managed to figure it out, the perpetrator was long gone.

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	11. Chapter 11

Frisk was worried that Borna was the only human child that was going to fall down, and they were right.

Sort of.

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Several weeks later, a young adult with a stained apron met her unfortunate fate as she found herself in a pile of golden flowers.

Looking up, all she saw were broken pillars and grey stalactites growing down from the mouth of the gaping cavern they fell from. Painfully, she stood up -a bone or three might have been broken; hopefully it wasn't anything important- and followed the faded path through an ornate grey door, brushing out the dust and pebbles from her dark brown hair and clothes. She seemed to have lost her name tag in the fiasco, but that was the least of her worries.

How was she going to get back up there?

A simple flower with six yellow petals greeted her in the middle of the hallway of the next room, smiling a big, innocent grin. A golden heart locket was draped between its two leaves that looked slightly out-of-place and proportion, but it didn't subtract from how cute that flower (kind of) was.

She wondered how a flower even got ahold of something that valuable-looking, but she held her tongue.

"Howdy, I'm Frisk! I've never seen you before! Are you new here?" a cheery voice called out from the flower- the only source of light in the room, never dropping its happy demeanor. "I think you are~! What's your name?"

"Who are you? How are you talking?" the adult pressed carefully, ignoring their question and immediately tensing up after noticing how vulnerable she was.

Hopefully she wasn't going to have to fight her way back to society; she really wasn't the type to get into conflicts...

She didn't want to look defenseless, but all she had for self-defense was a bent frying pan, and she barely remembered why she even had it in the first place. The memory must have been knocked loose for a while.

Wonder if she'll get it back soon?

"Didn't you hear me?" the flower huffed. "I'm Frisk! And you don't need to know how I'm talking- all sorts of strange things happen down here! Trust me, you'll understand when you see it."

The flo- Frisk winked playfully, and she felt a chill go down her spine. Something about this situation didn't seem right...

"So anyway, what's your name? You never answered me."

She started to regain her composure and she felt her heart rate go down slowly. It's not the strangest situation to be in, and the flower seemed friendly enough. After all, what's a little flower going to do to her? Scrape the knees that it's not tall enough for? She felt there wasn't much of a problem telling Frisk her name after a moment's hesitation.

So she did.

"Ms. Alexis. It's Ms. Alexis."

Frisk brightened a bit more at the answer, though for reasons she didn't understand.

"Nice to meetcha, Ms. Alexis! I have a feeling we'll get along nicely! Want me to show you around later?"

She looked at Frisk in slight confusion. "Why not now?" The flower rubbed their leaves together sheepishly, as if their reasoning wasn't going to work.

"W-Well, I just have things to do. When you reach a little house, stay at the front yard and wait for me. We can talk again then, okay?" Frisk offered, and Ms. Alexis didn't have a chance to respond as Frisk suddenly burrowed into the ground, completely out of sight.

They disappeared just as soon as a tall monster, with fur as white as snow and ears like a lop rabbit, stepped out from the door past the sunny area of the room.

"Greetings, my child, are you hurt?"

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((A/N: A little on the short side, my greatest apologies. But now you've got another character to love! Hooray! :D))


	12. Chapter 12

After that strange encounter with an equally-strange flower, Ms. Alexis shadowed a monster (that simply went by Toriel) through the hallways and corridors of the RUINS. A few monsters scrambled by, whispering to each other about something the human couldn't understand, before skittishly jumping -or flying- away in... fear?

It was hard to tell; she couldn't read the faces of frogs and huge flies that well.

She eventually became so intrigued with poking a rounded, gelatin-like monster that she didn't realize she was being asked a question about her occupation.

"Ms. Alexis, dear? Hello?"

"Yes, I'm alive! ...W-What did you say? Sorry, I kind of got distracted," said human replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck and smiling a crooked grin. Toriel sighed.

"I was wondering... you have an apron on you, and you are too tall to be a human child. Perhaps you have a job somewhere?" Toriel asked again.

Ms. Alexis nodded. "Yes, I work for an orphanage. It's a little ways above the cavern I fell from, and we hold in kids that have lost their families in some way or another until they're old and mature enough to live on their own.

"I came down here as a last resort; we had a child go missing recently, and this was the only place we haven't checked. We've put out posters, called around, hired search parties... But nothing seemed to work."

Toriel's face blanched, for what reason the human didn't know about. Her face returned back the way it was before, if only a little weary, and the pair continued onward without another word.

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Ms. Alexis noted that ever since she mentioned her job at the orphanage, Toriel didn't pry for more information about it. She thought that a motherly monster of her species would love to know about how her organization took care of the children, but she supposed that wasn't the case after all.

At any rate, the human left for bed quite early; snail pie wasn't something she wanted at the time. The emotional stress from the previous few weeks hadn't helped with her ability to stay awake, and she was asleep almost as quickly as it was to turn the lamp off.

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Waking up, she realized she forgot her promise to Frisk (that was the flower's name, right?) to meet them outside. Rushing past the other available room in the hallway (Toriel offered up her bed because the other bed was too small), through the foyer and the front door, she found that the flower was already patiently -impatiently? there was a scowl on their face- in the middle of the front yard.

"Where have you been? It's been a while, and I don't have all year, yanno!" the flower remarked.

"Sorry, sorry. A lot of things happened yesterday, and-"

"What're you talking about? You were only in that house for, like, an hour!"

Ms. Alexis paused, trying to piece the events together. "...Excuse me? I'm pretty sure I slept for a while... I wouldn't feel so refreshed if I slept for a few minutes."

Frisk huffed. "What did I say about things being different around here? You don't need to sleep very long, since time moves faster when you do that. You also recover faster."

The human sat on the doorstep thoughtfully. It sounds like a game mechanic or something, but she wasn't that well-versed in video games. It might just be the effects of magic down here, for all she knew.

"Okay, well, you said you wanted to show me around? I think I've looked almost everywhere with Toriel, but it's very nice of you to try, anyway."

Ms. Alexis smiled, but Frisk didn't want to return the gesture.

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After traveling through the RUINS, passing by yet another Froggit, Frisk tried to start up some conversation after what felt to be an eternity of silence. "...So."

"So," Ms. Alexis mimicked.

Frisk's face immediately dropped from neutral to irritated. "Well, are you going to stay here or not?"

"Of course not," Ms. Alexis responded, matter-of-factly. "Why would I? I have to find someone." She stopped walking, then gasped as she asked her next question with great urgency.

"Do you know of a little boy with a cross necklace? Borna W.?"

Frisk stayed silent. This was certainly something, that's for damn sure. They were quiet before deciding what answer to give her as she gave them a worried, wide-eyed stare.

As much as they wanted to feel the worry and grief and fear she had at that moment, it was impossible to bring up those emotions. They tried to recall how it felt to lose someone important to them, how difficult it was to let it all go, the time it took to remember but not break down in tears...

But it didn't work. They felt nothing.

The answer they replied with before they burrowed away was-

"...No. I haven't seen him."


End file.
